Fighting
by mercva
Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat.
1. Chapter 1 Preparation

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: At the moment, none. 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

You can blame Hatten for this one. Plot bunnies are annoying as hell. To be fair, though, the abstract concept has been at the back of my mind for awhile, now. I can't write fight scenes worth peanuts, though, so any help would be appreciated. 

Is it me, or does slangy British language sound like Australian when written down? 

Today's album recommendation: 'Enthrone Darkness Triumphant', by Dimmu Borgir. Somehow, they do this really kewl heavy metal and symphony thing that's heavier than hell, complete with dodgy-as lyrics. While you're at it, have a listen to 'Psalm 69' by Ministry. 

* * * 

Giles absently stopped the world globe by the stacks from spinning while he thought. He'd just explained some of the realities of life to Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg. He had hoped to minimize their involvement, but the least they were owed was an explanation as to vampires after their long term best friend was abducted by one. 

The British ex-rebel had come to Sunnydale to Watch over Slayer Summers, but had found she was amazingly stubborn in her assertion that she deserved a social life, and Giles had just about given up on trying to convince her of the merit in focussing on Slaying, and Slaying only. It looked like her two new friends had the same stubborn streak. If he read the boy correctly, Xander was even more stubborn than the Slayer. Understandable, really, considering that his friend had just been abducted by demons. 

Giles couldn't just /let/ them help Slaying, however. They would have to be happy with settling with research. If they still wanted to help physically... he'd found that physical exertion did wonders in dissuading modern youth. 

"I, I can't just let you help the Slayer with her Slaying," Giles said. "You'd be in, in a lot of danger." 

Xander waved a hand in dismissal. "I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away." 

"Vampires are stronger than half a dozen men put together, and move like a greased pig," Buffy said. "You're not helping." 

"I'm gonna hurt those suckers worse than hygiene!," Xander protested, getting up and glaring at Buffy. While he was mildly crushing on Buffy Summers, his friendship with Jesse took priority. 

Giles cleared his throat. "I refuse to permit you to help the Slayer until I'm satisfied that you are able to defend yourself. This will, of course, involve training in martial arts." 

"Uh, I'm really no good at fighting," Willow said. "I can help with books! Research Gal, that's me!" 

Xander wasn't as sanguine. "I don't have to listen to you! Those assholes took Jesse!" 

Giles sighed. "I was hoping not to have to say this, but if you do not listen to me I will have no choice but to inform Principal Flutie that you have been getting into fights." 

"You fight dirty," Xander complained. "Okay, but I don't have any money for any dojo's." 

Giles grinned. It was a vicious little grin that had nothing to do with librarians, and a lot to do with his younger self. "I fight dirty indeed. You'll turn up here at six in the morning, or don't turn up at all." 

"I take it this isn't for early morning cartoons?," Xander asked. 

* * * 

"Hello?" 

"Billy's Bar, how can I help you?" 

"Get Billy Kane. This is Ripper." 

"Hold on..." 

"Ripper? Mate, it's been too bloody long!" 

"Yeah, been doing stuff. Still got those training manuals of mine?" 

"'Course I bloody got 'em! Want 'em back?" 

"Yeah. Can you come over here at all?" 

"Why? What's up?" 

"Demons." 

A long pause ensued. 

"Demons? Bloody hell, mate, what're you got yerself wound up in?" 

"Working for the Council. Gone daft in my old age, I guess. There's a local boy who won't bloody stay away, and I need to teach him how not to get himself killed." 

"I'm busy for the next few weeks, but I'll send you those manuals tomorra. When I can, I'll come see ya, bring some of my mates." 

"Still working for Mr Big?" 

"Nah, mate, Geese Howard. He's in charge these days." 

Small talk continued. 

* * * 

"When my bones knit," Xander panted, "you are a dead man." 

Giles paused, surprised. It was about six thirty, and the grey halflight preceding dawn had begun to appear. The first order of business had been getting Xander into some semblance of fitness, so they had been doing callisthenics and jogging. 

"Er, Xander, your bones are perfectly fine, if a little jarred." 

"Don't you read the funnies in the newspaper?" 

Silence. 

* * * 


	2. Chapter 2 Preparation

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: At the moment, none. 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

Quite surprised at the number of replies to the first part, so I'll continue this for now. I don't know how long I can write until I have to come up with a plot, so you have been warned. 

The timeline of this compared to the canon program will probably be a bit messed up. Close your eyes and imagine that I am God and there is no canon timeline. 

Today's album recommendation: 'The Art of Rebellion', by Suicidal Tendencies. And if no one comments on this paragraph, I shall desist from recommending any music due to lack of interest. 

* * * 

That day, the small group met again in the Library during a free period. 

Right after Xander and Giles had another little training session. When Giles did something, he didn't do it by halves. 

"Wow, Xander, love the look," Buffy commented. 

Xander had been introduced to the rudiments of knife fighting, and as a result had numerous bruises from the blunter-than-2x4-lumber knives Giles used to train. The most nasty bruise was in a straight line travelling over his left eye across his forehead above his right eye. 

"Xander!," Willow cried, grabbing Xander's head to take a closer look to reassure herself. The redheaded hacker gave Giles a /very/ dirty look. "You hurt him!" 

"I'm fine," Xander protested. "I feel better than a Goth at a Type O Negative concert." 

The Slayer looked at her Watcher curiously. "Wow, you come across as timid, but... wow." 

Giles rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Ah, the legacy of a misspent youth." 

(A/N: all embarassed fighters/martial-artists rub the back of their head when nervous. Anime series would never lie to me.) 

"I'm pretty sure they don't teach you to knife people in the groin at those formal schools," Xander joked weakly. 

The librarian coughed, then picked up an open book. 

"Well, after some research with Willow's help last night, we've established that it's some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. However, we haven't established where this will take place." 

The American teenagers gave the Watcher a combined Look. 

"That was rather British, wasn't it?" 

"Welcome to the New World," Buffy grinned. 

"I want you to go on the 'Net," Giles told Willow, manfully restraining the urge to tell her to remove that machine from his Library. If she didn't figure out for herself that those dread machines were of no use... then she wasn't as smart as he thought. 

"Oh, sure, I can do that," Willow chirped, happy to be of use. She was certain that the vast Internet would have some materials on this Harvest thingy. At the least, some university somewhere would have /something./ Perhaps that www.miskatonic.edu address she'd come across last week... 

"I'm off to try and get Jesse back," Buffy said resolutely. 

"Er, right," Giles said. "I'll search for more information on the Harvest as well." 

"I'm with the Buffmeister," Xander announced. 

"Xander, this is deeply dangerous," Buffy complained. 

"I'm inadequate," the maligned teen moaned. "That's fine. I'm less than a man." 

Giles looked up from the book he was skimming. "Xander, ten laps of the soccer field then come see me for more training. Buffy, go." 

* * * 

Once free period for Xander and Willow had finished, they had had to return to class. Willow had her elective Computer Studies class, while Xander (never one to take class work /too/ seriously) normally read a book or something. 

He was seriously beginning to regret agreeing to Giles' proposal. 

"I don't get it," Xander bi--, um, said. "Why are you teaching me knives? Why not swords?" 

Giles fixed his glasses in place. They'd slipped slightly, during the last ten minutes. "Er, swords are hard to hide in an urban setting and rather hard to replace, while knives are a simple matter of stealing from the kitchen and putting them in your jacket. That's one of the major reasons." 

"Why no guns?" 

"Bullets that can kill vampires are either silver, which is hard to explain, or hollowpoints, which are hard to explain to law enforcement." 

* * * 

Post-fic Comments: 

Sorry this is so short. I don't really have a lot to base this story on from real life experience. 


	3. Chapter 3 Fear

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: At the moment, none. 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

No one seems to care about the music comments, so I won't bother with 'em. Where on earth did Americans come up with their 'football'? It's one of the stupidest sports I've ever seen. At least with rugby, the guys aren't dressed in wussy armour clothing stuff. 

Took someone's advice (think it was Jens Pfaffman, with a bit of influence from steveshawler) and have moved forwards a few eps after setting the stage in parts 1 and 2. 

* * * 

Giles closed his eyes. He didn't like this, but there was no way around it. The Council Of Watchers had decreed that it would be so, and he had no way of squirelling out of it. He'd prefer to do this on his own terms, but he'd been forced to do battle with this new paradigm. 

He clicked on 'New Message' on the computer that Willow Rosenberg had forced him to accept from Principal Flutie. She'd mentioned something about information on an interweb, but Giles hadn't really understood. There was no way in Hell Giles would let that Calendar woman attach one of those Skimmers to the machine after that unpleasant business with Moloch, however. 

He began to tap out a message to the Council, outlining his initial contact with Slayer Summers her recalcitrant attitude, and her flippant attitude towards her duties. This took a long time to type, using his 'hunt and peck' keyboard style. Giles added a note at the end about Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris, making sure to state that he'd done his best to convince them not to help and was only letting Harris assist Slayer Summers after a great deal of physical training. 

Xander Harris had gotten surprisingly good at assisting Slayer Summers, Giles added. Billy Kane had come with Giles' old fighting manuals a week ago, and had been very complimentary about Xander's abilities. Giles was not going to tell the Council Kane's exact terms, as he was sure that they would think he was backsliding into his old ways if they knew who Kane was. After thinking about it, the Watcher decided to simply put 'an old acquaintance' instead of 'Billy Kane', or 'Kane'. He was sure he'd draw enough fire from Travers and his ilk about training non-Slayers. 

Clicking 'send', he got up from the computer, and went to the stacks to find some books he was after. 

* * * 

Xander wandered along the hallway, ducking into a closet when he saw the PE coach moving towards him. Six months ago, the man hadn't looked at him except to yell at him to 'stop slacking and get moving, dammit!' Now, after Giles had been training him, he kept getting cornered by the guy to try and get him into the interschool fighting team or, failing that, the football team. 

The Xanman had about as much intention of joining /any/ sports teams as he had of going to Disneyworld and working as one of those guys in the walking costumes. Being anywhere near the same social circles as the likes of Larry had all the appeal of sweaty gym socks. 

He breathed a sigh of relief. The PE coach seemed to have lost him. The sigh rapidly grew up into a fullblown yawn. Xander had been assisting the Slayer all night, and had gotten right back up at six. Xander was caught between his innate sense of slackness, and his innate sense of justice and his conscience. 

One real perk of training with the G-man was meeting all his old friends, however. Billy Kane was cool -- he had given Xander a bandanna with the Union Jack on it. 

School didn't get any better than it had gotten that day. In class, Queen C dressed down a fellow student for daring to block her light with a school paper while she attempted, despite all those who would obstruct her, to check her makeup. 

"Hello?," Cordelia snapped at Wendell. "Doofus! You're in my light!" 

"Wendell, what is wrong with you?," Xander sarcasmed. "Don't you know that she is the centre of the universe, and that all we mere mortals revolve around her?" 

"Why don't you revolve yourself out of my light?," the Queen of Sunnydale High retorted, showing either a very subtle sense directed towards herself or a blunt sense of annoyance. Xander couldn't decide which. 

And the day didn't get much better from there on in. After a couple of minutes, Xander settled in for a good few periods of actively listening to himself snoring. Gently, so as not to disturb the teacher. 

Not that this was to be. Half an hour into class, he was woken up by Wendell shrieking when a few spiders began trekking over the unfortunate boy. 

* * * 

The next day found Willow in a less than charitable mood towards spiders as well. 

"Xander! Xander!," Willow yelled. 

"Willow! Willow!," Xander joked. "How are you?" 

"A huge, horrible spider crawled over my face last night," the redhead complained. "Do you think there's some spider monster telling them all to crawl over people? Where's Buffy?" 

The two soon found the blonde Slayer. 

"Oh, Buffy," Willow yelled out. "We've been looking for you!" 

"We have?," Xander asked. "Oh yeah, Willow got some spider crawlage in last night. Not a pub crawl either, as we are unfortunately underage." 

"I don't like spiders, okay?," Willow complained, continueing the complaint from earlier. "Their furry bodies, and their sticky webs, and what do they need all those extra legs for, anyway? I'll tell you -- for crawling over your face in the middle of the night. Ewww! How can they not ruffle you?" 

"I'm sorry!," Xander said. "I'm unruffled by spiders. Spiders eat flies and bugs, and are therefore good. Now, if a bunch of Nazi's crawled over my face..." 

"Mmm," Buffy agreed diplomatically. It was hard to tell which person she was agreeing with. "It was pretty intense." 

"Thank you," Willow said, thinking that Buffy was agreeing with her. 

"Well, the Hellmouth, the center of mystical convergence, supernatural monsters," the Xanman said, trying to keep their spirits buoyant. "Been there." 

"Little blase' there, aren't you?," Buffy pointed out. 

"I'm not worried," Xander said. "If there's something bad out there, we find, we slay, we party!" 

"Thanks for the confidence vote," Buffy said dryly. 

They universally decided to head for the Library to see if their resident Watcher had anything for them. 

* * * 

Post-fic Comments: 

Xander falling asleep in class? Well, Ranma falls asleep in class due to Genma making him get up to start training. I figured the phenomenon was probably not unique to Japanese teenagers. 

I'm guessing re drinking age. In NZ, it's 18. 


	4. Chapter 4 Fear

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: At the moment, none. 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

For those who don't know, the Stacks are where they keep falling-apart books. Students are NOT allowed into the stacks, but librarians can get books from the stacks for students. If the books were out on the shelves, they'd rapidly disintegrate into so many random pieces of paper. Think of the stacks as an old people's home for books, where tape and glue replace medicines and meals. 

* * * 

The threesome composed of the Slayer, Xander, and Willow made their way to the Library in search of the ancient master who could answer their Great Question. 

Okay, maybe Giles wasn't an 'ancient master', and maybe the question wasn't so great, but the phrase sounded good, as Xander pointed out. 

"You've watched too many Kung Fu movies," Buffy muttered. 

"Don't knock the skillz!," Xander grinned. "The hand is quicker than the eye... or was that the mind?" 

The two girls exchanged a look. 

"Almost definitely the hand," Willow said. 

"You sure?" 

"Yup!" 

"I need to work on my movie watching," Xander mused. "My quotage quota is startin' to slip." 

"Okay, but we're still caring about the spiders here," Willow pointed out as they entered the Library, repository of the knowledge of the ancients. "Let's not forget the spiders." 

"Well, Giles said he was gonna look it up," Buffy pointed out. A brief look yielded no Watcher. "Giles!" 

"Maybe he's in the faculty room," Willow said. 

Yeah right, Xander thought, he can't stand Principal Snyder any better than I can. 

The watcher they all knew and loved (to differing extents) appeared from the stacks, looking bemused, with a side order of dazed as well. 

"Hey, Giles!," the irreverent Slayer said. "Wakey, wakey!" 

"I was, uh, in the stacks," Giles said, looking mildly embarassed now. "I got lost." 

Weird. Giles knew the stacks better than he knew his bedroom. 

"Did you find any books on spiders coming out of books?," Xander asked. He reached around Willow's shoulder, wiggling his fingers in an imitation of a large spider crawling on her shoulder. "Big, hairy, crawly..." 

The redhead turned around and hit her friend in retribution for attempting to scare her. 

"It's funny if you're me!," Xander protested. 

"I couldn't find anything, uh... particularly illuminating," the Watcher admitted. "I think perhaps you'd best have a chat with Mr Wendell himself." 

"Okay," Buffy said. After a bit of thought, recalling yesterday, she added, "If he can still talk." 

As Xander began to leave with the others, Giles called out. 

"Xander! I've recently received some scrolls on fighting with a shipment of other reference material from the Council. You'll find them on my workbench, marked 'Anything Goes.'" 

The Xanman grinned. This fighting thing was beginning to be real fun. Heck, in a battle of pure skill restrained to human strength, he could beat Buffy these days. 

* * * 

A talk with Mr Wendell was spectacularly uninformative. They learnt only that the boy loved the creatures ("Arachnids! Why does everybody make that mistake?") and felt some guilt that his collection had died under the care of his brother. 

Xander was beginning to seriously dislike this day. In History, after the test from hell, he'd been dressed down for handing in a grossly inaccurate essay. The teacher had taken great joy in telling him that the Hundred Year War had /not/ begun due to jealous Frenchmen and Germans trying to burn down the Scottish distilleries. 

He kicked himself. That'd teach him to ask his parents for help, rather than Giles. 

In an attempt to get the G-man to do--er, help-- with more of his homework, he was currently helping him outside Slayage stuff. So, when Buffy came with her report of a girl being hospitalised in mysterious circumstances, she found the Xanman helping the G-man file bookcards. 

Kinda. In an architectural way. 

After the Fall of the Tower of Sunnydale, and the resultant yelling at by both sides, they left for the hospital to question the unfortunate girl 

* * * 

"I think they said Room 3016," Buffy said, as the threesome wandered along the astringent smelling hospital corridor. 

"Do you know the girl?," Giles asked. He was carrying a potted plant with purple flowers on it. 

"To say hi to," Buffy said, social butterfly. "Laura's nice enough. Nobody saw who attacked her?" 

"Well, I was rather hoping Laura did," Giles said, dry British humour showing. 

"My money's on Mr Nobody," Xander said. "Ninety percent of all crimes are committed by him, after all." 

"Mr Nobody?," Giles questioned. 

"Sure," Xander said. "If no person admits to something, then it's obvious Nobody did it. Mr Nobody." 

Giles' lips twitched, holding back a smile. 

They quickly found Room 3016, and entered it. The girl on the bed was covered in bruises, and her left arm and leg were in plaster. 

"Hey, Laura," Buffy greeted. 

"Hi," Laura weakly greeted. 

"I hope we're not intruding, um...," Giles said uneasily. 

He handed the plant to Buffy, who put it on the bedside cabinet by Laura. The girl smiled at the flowers, running a finger along the petals. 

"That's okay. I don't wanna be left alone," Laura said. 

"You understand we're anxious to make sure this, this doesn't happen again," Giles said. 

"Because that would be of the bad," Xander said redundantly. 

Buffy took a seat at the end of the bed. "Can you tell us what happened?" 

"I was in the basement," Laura began. "I went down for a smoke. There was... someone there." 

"Someone you know?," Xander asked. 

"I've never... seen anything like it," Laura continued. 

"It?," Buffy asked. 

"Was it all demony looking?," Xander asked. "Because I'm fully up on the monster slayage, and the damsel rescueage." 

The victim of the aforementioned entity started to panic at the memory of the beating, and found it hard to talk. "It-it, oh god, it..." 

"Hey, that's okay," the Slayer comforted. "Don't worry about it." 

Xander dug through his pockets, producing two twinkies which he put next to the flowerpot. "Here -- you need them more than I do at the moment. Just don't tell the nurses it was me?" 

"Yes, you, you, you just rest now," Giles said, unused to comforting people. 

"You know, but...," Buffy started, interrupted by an entering nurse. 

"Hi, Laura," the nurse said. 

"...i-if you remember anything?," Buffy continued. "You can tell us. Even if it may seem weird." 

"She needs her rest now," the nurse said. The three fighters of darkness began to leave. 

"'Lucky nineteen'," Laura spoke up. 

"I'm sorry?," Giles asked as the three turned around. 

"It's what he said, right before... He said 'lucky nineteen'. That's weird, right?" 

"Yes. Yes, it is," Giles said, obviously thinking over the phrase. 

"Feel better," Buffy commanded with a smile. 

"Take care," Giles added. 

As they left Laura's hospital room, Giles saw her doctor. 

"Doctor, is she gonna be alright?," the British man enquired. 

"You family?," the rushed doctor asked. 

"Friends," Buffy explained. 

"She'll recover," the doctor answered. "She's got a couple of shattered bones, a little internal bleeding... she got off pretty easy." 

Buffy couldn't believe this guy. "Easy?!" 

"Have you looked up the word lately?," Giles asked rhetorically. 

"Well, the first one's still in a coma," the doctor said, willing to take a breather. 

"First what? The guy's a serial beater?," Xander asked. 

"First victim," the doctor elaborated, looking into another room. "They found him a week ago. Exact same M.O. as the girl, only he's in worse shape. If he doesn't wake up soon... Somebody's gotta stop this guy." 

"Somebody will," the Slayer said. 

"And it's gonna be us," Xander said, unconsciously tightening his fists. 

* * * 

Post-fic Comments: 

Regarding the 'beat Buffy' bit, I'm pretty sure that Buffy relies on her strength a bit too much, like Akane Tendo. 

I'm not sure of the word 'Nobody', and whether it should be expanded into two words. 


	5. Chapter 5 Fear

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: At the moment, none. 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? *listens to Iron Maiden's 'Out Of The Silent Planet'* 

Pre-fic Comments: 

Man, I *still* haven't gotten to the bit of plot I've thought up. This sucks. As to why this part is out relatively fast, you've all got me all inspired and motivated by your copious amount of postage. Please, keep me motivated! :D 

I don't know if American schools use padlocks for lockers (like us) or if they use those funky built in combo locks. I'm going to assume you use padlocks, since they're the cheapest option if the students provide the locks. 

Is it true that Americans have weird euphemisms for the loo/crapper/toilet/throne like water closet? 

* * * 

Back at school, Xander and Willow were going to their next class. School delays for no man, and teachers skip detentions for no student. 

"I'm just saying, Wendell had a dream and then that exact thing happened," Willow pointed out. She had an idea cooking in her mind. 

"Which is a fair wiggins," Xander admitted, "but how do you think that ties in with Laura?" 

The two of them thought that over for a moment while Willow got her books from her locker. 

"It could be a coincidence," Xander said hopefully. "Y'know, Wendell finds a spider's nest, and we all wig because he dreamt of spiders. So it may not be connected." 

Knowing his luck, though, it was probably a ten foot tall and bulletproof spider sending forth it's arachnid hordes to enslave mankind. 

"I dunno," Willow mused as they entered class. "Can we take that chance? I mean, we are on a Hellmouth." 

"If there is a connection," Xander complained, "it doesn't sound like anything... what?" 

He realised all of the students in the classroom were staring at him, along with Willow. 

A slight breeze made itself known. 

He looked down. His privates were covered, but nothing else was. 

"Xander!," Willow gasped. A slight tinge of red was starting to spread across her cheeks. "When did you be--uh, what happened to..." 

"I-I-I dunno!," he stuttered, in a panic. "I was, uh, dressed a moment ago! It's a dream, it's gotta be a dream! Ow! Wake up! Ow! Gotta wake up!" 

The brunette ran screaming from the room, the redhead chasing him close behind. 

Cordelia and the Cordettes stared at where the boy had been standing in shocked amazement. 

"Wow...," Harmony Kendall said. "Harris is /built./" 

"When did that happen?," Fleur asked. 

"I heard that Coach Swansen had been chasing him to join the Martial Arts clubs," Cordelia said. She paused a moment. "It's a shame that he didn't get a dress sense with those new muscles." 

"Yeah..." 

* * * 

Xander ran to his locker, ripping it open in a panic. He grabbed his gym clothes, thanking God that he didn't have PE that day. He made a break for the nearest toilets, holding the clothes over his ass and his underwear. 

Willow arrived at the lockers soon after. She stopped a moment to catch her breath. 

"Ge--geez, Xander... wai... wait up nex' time..." 

The future witch noticed something. She touched the locker's door frame, which had been twisted and distorted in Xander's panic. The 'Shacklock' padlock was still intact, but the tabs it was attached to to hold the door shut had been mutilated beyond repair. 

"Wow, Xander, who'da thunk you could do that?" 

She opened the now unsecured locker, noticing that the plastic grocery bag that Xander used for his gym clothes was missing. Putting two and two together, she moseyed on down to the nearest guy's loo block. Willow knocked on the closed door. 

"Who's there?," Xander asked. 

"Me," Willow shouted back. "Come out here, mister!" 

She wasn't proud -- she'd admit that she was kinda hoping he'd forgotten his gym shirt or something. Those months spent training with Giles had paid off, and he'd hidden those payoffs behind those Hawaiian shirts. Willow foresaw some nights of discussions with Buffy. 

"Okay," Xander said. "I just changed." 

He opened the door. He had on his tracksuit -- all of it, to Willow's disappointment. 

"Time to go see Giles," Xander said. 

The two of them ran to the library. 

"Whoop! Red alert!," Xander yelled as he entered the tomb of knowledge. 

Out of pure reflex, Giles hissed at them, putting a finger over his lips to indicate 'Quiet!' 

"Uh...," Giles said, "where are your other clothes?" 

The Man In Tweed and The Xanman didn't bother changing when they practiced things like knife fighting or the Art during free periods, and he'd never seen Xander in his PE clothes before. 

"Oh, don't I wish I had the answer to that question," Xander groused. 

"Xander kinda found himself in front of our class not wearing much of anything," Willow explained. 

"Except my underwear." 

Willow laughed. 

"Yeah! It was really...," she began, before looking at Xander's expression. "... bad. It was a bad thing. Not all bad, just bad for Xander." 

"Bad thing?," Xander asked rhetorically. "I was naked. Bad thing doesn't cover it." 

Didn't cover him either, Giles noted in his mind with a mental smirk. 

"Everybody staring?," Willow said. "I would hate to have everybody paying attention to me like that." 

"With nudity!," Xander complained. If he found out who magicked away his clothes, they were a dead witch. "It was a total nightmare!" 

A light went on in Willow's mind. Her idea finished cooking. "Well, yeah, Xander! It's your nightmare!" 

"Except the part with me waking up going 'it's all a dream'," Xander ranted. "It happened." 

"Like it happened to Wendell," Willow continued. Giles expression became thoughtful as he saw what Willow was driving at. "That thing with the spiders? Wendell had a recurring dream about that." 

"I-I dreamt that I got lost in the stacks and I... I couldn't read," Giles said. "Of course!" 

"Uh, our dreams are coming true?," Xander asked, realising what was happening as well. 

"Dreams?," Giles asked cynically. "That would be a musical comedy version of this. Nightmares, our worst nightmares, are coming true." 

"So, why is this happening?," Willow asked. 

"Billy," Giles said cryptically. 

"The kid in the coma?," Xander asked. "From that hospital visit?" 

"Somehow I think he's crossed over from the nightmare world he's trapped in," Giles thought out loud. 

"And he brought the nightmare world with him," Xander said. "Thanks a bunch, Billy." 

"How could he do that?," Willow asked, sounding hurt. 

"Things like that are easy when you live on a Hellmouth," Giles explained. 

"Well, um, we have to stop it," Xander said. He had no intentions of the others seeing his nightmares. They were personal. 

"And soon. Or else everybody in Sunnydale is going to be facing their own worst nightmares," Giles said. 

The three paused for a moment. 

"Buffy!," the Watcher realised. "Buffy doesn't know this is happening. And given the sort of things she dreams about, it's imperative we find her." 

The trio left the Library in search of their errant Slayer. 

"Probably faster if we split up to look for her," Xander pointed out. 

"Good idea," the Watcher approved. 

* * * 

Post-Fic Comments: 

"Things like that are easy when you live on a Hellmouth," Giles explained. 

Doesn't that sound like a convenient plot cop-out? Mutant spacebunnies invade. "Things like that are easy when you live on a Hellmouth." 


	6. Chapter 6 Fear

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: At the moment, none. 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

Okay, a bit more of my plot stuff. As in a few bytes worth. See if you can spot it. 

I know, canon used some American chocolate bar. I'm expanding your horizons. Name the manufacturers, win a reply. 

* * * 

Cordelia ran screaming down the corridors, Chess Club members in hot pursuit. 

"Nooooooooo!," the Queen of Sunnydale High screamed. "I'm not even on the chess team!" 

Xander paused to watch in stunned amazement. 

"You promised!," Billy Reed yelled at her. "We've got your signature on an application form!" 

There was no way Xander was gonna forget this. If the Apocalypse rolled into town that hour, he'd be teasing Cordelia throughout the afterlife about her stint in the Chess Club. 

"You don't understand!," the socialite screamed, on the brink of a mindless panic attack. "I don't wanna go!" 

"Man," Xander said. "Now /that/ was a Kodak, if not a Handycam moment." 

He paused. "Except you can't frame and mount video tapes on the wall." 

Continuing on his way, he stopped dead at the next set of firestop doors. The hall beyond the doors had been vandalized, and black swastikas adorned the walls. The remaining fluorescent light flickered over the glass shards of it's deceased companions and the only remaining goodness in the corridor. 

A Cadbury Crunchy bar. Wonderful hokey pokey smothered in sweet, sugary, chocolatey goodness. 

The Xanman wasted no time in rescueing the unfortunate survivor from the wreckage of the battlefield, opening it and testing it to make sure that it was still okay. He took a few more bites, to make sure the rest of the bar was alright as well. No sense in leaving defective confectionary around to disappoint people. 

"This is my lucky day!" 

He kept moving, picking up chocolate bars as he went. Perhaps the G-man had been wrong, and it wasn't /all/ nightmares? 

Plastic sheeting fell from the ceiling of the corridor like flypaper as he walked further along the dimly lit hall. He saw something /special/ lying on the floor. Putting down the armload of chocolate bars he had found on the way, he picked it up and had a look. 

"A Scrumdidillyumptious Bar! These are the best! I haven't had one of these since..." 

The penny dropped. He /knew/ what had happened on his sixth birthday. He still woke up sweating heavily at times, remembering it. 

The G-man had been right. This was a nightmare. A brightly painted clown cut through the plastic sheeting, sharp knife in hand. 

Xander was well capable of defending himself from anything short of a strong demon these days, but fear wasn't reasonable. He ran. 

* * * 

A couple doors down the corridor, Xander found Willow. Strangely, she had a few tomatoes staining her clothes. 

"Did you find Buffy?," Xander asked. 

"I had to sing!," Willow gasped. "Very bad to sing!" 

"Willow, c'mon," Xander cajoled. "Let's find the others." 

"What happened to you?" 

"Remember my sixth birthday party?," Xander asked. 

Willow laughed, recalling it. "Oh yeah! When the clown chased you, and you had to..." 

She trailed off as the penny dropped and she realised what Xander's nightmare probably was. "Oh." 

The clown slashed through a sheet of plastic, grinning insanely. The two teenagers turned around to find Giles standing behind them. The Watcher looked at Xander with disappointment. He'd been training the boy and he couldn't stand up to clowns?! 

"Oh, yeah," Xander said. He felt really stupid -- he could have beaten that clown two years ago, let alone today! 

He decked it with one smooth uppercut, a reddish orange tinge tainting the air around his fist. As the figure hit the floor, he absently took the knife from it. 

"No sign of Buffy?," Giles asked, relieved to see that Xander had faced his fear. He didn't notice that the discolouration on the clown's jaw was as much burn mark as bruise. 

"I feel good!," Xander proclaimed. "I feel liberated!" 

"You seem to be the only one," the Watcher said dryly as Xander picked up the pile of chocolate bars he'd found. "Things are getting worse. In a few hours reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares." 

"Well, what do we do?," Willow asked, Research Gal. 

"The only thing I can think of is to wake Billy," Giles said. He couldn't read his books to find out any more; the only other solution he could think of was to kill the little boy, which was unacceptable. 

"Uh, what about Buffy?," Xander asked. 

"Who knows where she might have gone?," Giles asked. 

Willow conveniently spotted a graveyard over the road. "Excuse me, when did they put a cemetary across the street?" 

"And when did they make it night over there?," Xander continued. Something was very screwy about that graveyard. 

The trio walked into the graveyard. 

"Whose nightmare is this?," Xander asked. 

Giles noticed a marker, and crouched by it to get a better view. On it was the inscription 'Buffy Summers 1981 - 1997'. 

"It's mine." 

The two teenagers moved over to the British man. 

"I've failed...," Giles said, "in my duty to protect you. I should have been more c-cautious. Trained you better. But you were so gifted, and the evil was so great. I'm sorry..." 

As the three regarded the grave, Giles laid a hand on the soil. As the man began to get up, a hand broke through the surface to grab his hand. 

Xander couldn't help but be reminded of all the bad zombie movies he'd seen. Willow screamed. 

Giles teared his arm free as Buffy dug herself out of the grave, brushing the dust off her clothes. The distinctive facial ridges of a vampire marred her face. 

"Buffy?," Giles asked weakly. 

"I thought I was dead!," the blonde protested. 

"Buffy, your face!," Willow gasped. 

The girl touched her face, feeling the ugly new additions. She moaned lowly, before covering her face with her hands. 

"Buffy...," Xander trailed off, stepping towards the teenager. 

"Don't look at me!," she protested. 

"You never told me you dreamt of becoming a vampire," Giles said blankly. 

"This isn't a dream!," Buffy said firmly, with an undertone of panic. 

"No," Giles agreed. "No, it's not. But there's a chance we can make it go away. This all comes from Billy. Now, if we can wake him up, I believe that the nightmares will stop and reality will shift back into place, but we must do it now! I need you to hold together long enough to help us. Can you do that?" 

Buffy nodded at the thought of reversing her new condition. "Yeah, I think I can." 

"Thank you," Giles said, relieved that his speech had worked. He was trying not to think of what a Slayer's strength would be when augmented by vampirism. 

"Well, we better hurry," the Slayer said, "because I'm getting hungry." 

"That is... a joke, right?," Xander asked. He'd already had to stake one vampiric ex-friend. He didn't want to have to stake another. 

"Are you sure that everything will go back once he's awake?," Willow asked Giles. 

"Oh, uh, positive," Giles said with much more assurance than he felt. 

"Well, how do we wake Billy up?," Willow asked. "What if we can't?" 

"Willow, do shut up." 

Xander held up his cargo of chocolate bars. "Plan B, we entice him back with this." 

* * * 

Post-fic Comments: 

Okay, so I didn't put as much violence in as I'd hoped. 


	7. Chapter 7 Fear

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: At the moment, none. 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

This weekend, I've had the whole house to myself (the rest of the family is away.) I guess that this solitude is very conducive to writing. 

It's a shame that Spike wasn't in the Nightmares ep. We could have seen him act all angsty, broody, and just like his ole grandpoof. Then there would be teasing immense. 

This is the last part of the Fear arc. 

* * * 

"I can't be a vampire!" 

"Er, it'll be okay Buff, at least you've still got a soul!" 

"But now I'm all grr and gross!" 

Pause. "You'll be a matched set for Deadboy!" 

Runrunrun. Keep ahead of homicidal Slayer. She's got her mind off depression, that's the main thing, deal with the cause later. 

The four ran down the Hospital hallways. Xander and Buffy led the way, with Giles close behind in third place, and Willow a panting, gasping fourth. The teenage fighters stopped outside Billy Fordham's room. Giles grabbed the doctor that they had asked earlier. 

"Doctor! Is the boy Billy still here?," the British man asked. 

The physician didn't hear Giles' query, raising his hands to the Watcher. They were twisted and misshapen, clearly incapable of so much as holding a pen. With a cry of 'My hands!', the doctor ran down the hallway. Xander and Buffy ignored him as they moved into the small room with the smaller boy. 

"What now?," Xander asked. "Wake him up?" 

"Um...," Giles trailed off, bending down to the boy. "Billy! Billy!" 

A voice came from a corner of the room. A spectral image of the boy on the bed was standing there. 

"That won't work," the image said. 

"Billy!," Giles exclaimed. "Uh, Billy, you have to wake up." 

"No!," the child protested. "I told her. I have to hide." 

"Who from?," Xander asked, a frown starting to emerge on his face. 

"From him!," Buffy yelled, pointing at a man with a badly scarred face and a grossly deformed club arm. 

"He's the one who's been beating people up?," Xander asked, moving out the door to face the thing. Buffy was right behind him. 

"Xander, get back!" 

"No. No one is gonna get away with beating little kids up. No one," Xander said grimly. 

Willow looked out the window at a black horde of approaching wasps. "You'd better hurry!" 

"Lucky Nineteen!," the Ugly Man yelled 

Xander punched the Ugly Man in the head, dazing the thing, before grabbing it's neck and holding it stationary with one arm while punching it further in the gut, unable to collapse or retreat. Smoke began to rise from where Xander was hitting it repeatedly, and Xander's fist had the same reddish tinge. 

Eventually, the Ugly Man roared "Lucky Nineteen!" again, throwing off Xander and clubbing him in the head. Both paused to catch their breath before continueing. Blood flowed from Xander's cheek, where the fingernails on the club arm had scratched him deeply. 

Buffy wasn't willing to let the thing recover. She side kicked it in the back, able to do what the longer limbed Xander could not in the narrow hallway. The thing didn't really feel it, and slammed her through the door into Billy's room. She collapsed against the bed, and started to get up as the Ugly Man advanced on her. 

Xander strode into the room from the hallway, grabbing the thing's blackened head by the forehead. It roared in pain, as he pulled backwards abruptly, forcing it to fall backwards, away from Giles, Willow, and Billy. The fall, and the resultant sharp knock to the head knocked the thing out. 

"Is... is he dead?," Billy's spectre asked uncertainly. 

"Come here, Billy," Buffy said, getting up from the floor by his bed. 

"I-I don't..." 

"You have to do the rest," the Slayer said. Billy came around the bed to beside Buffy, and the thing. 

Xander reached into his gym shirt for something he had grabbed from Giles' office, just in case. 

"What are they doing?," Willow asked. Giles motioned for her to be silent. 

"I get it," Xander said, having an epiphany. 

"No more hiding," Buffy said. 

Billy's figure let go of Buffy's hand. He reached down to the Ugly Man's neck, and peeled the scarred face back like a rubber mask. Light poured out of the resulting surface, and the Ugly Man vanished. Xander's cuts on his cheek had vanished, along with the blood that had flowed from them. He and Willow were now dressed in the clothes they had come to school in, and Buffy was now human. 

"Hey, he's waking up!," Xander said, pointing at Billy's body lying in the bed. 

"I had the strangest dream," Billy said. "And you were in it... and you. Who are you people?" 

They all smiled. Giles moved to the door. 

"Let's go get a doctor," the Brit said. 

As he and Xander were about to leave, a man in a sports jacket and a cap entered. 

"Oh! Huh, Billy's got company," the man said, taking off his cap. "I-I-I'm his kiddy league coach. I come by here every day, just hoping against hope he's gonna wake up soon. He's my lucky nineteen." 

Everyone's eyebrows rose at the familiar phrase of "Lucky Nineteen!" 

"So, how is he?," the man continued. 

"He's awake," the Slayer said flatly. 

"What?" 

"You blamed him for losing the game. So you caught up with him afterwards, didn't you?" 

The same grim expression as when he had faced the Ugly Man appeared on Xander's face. 

"What are you talking about?," the coach asked, trying to worm his way out of trouble. 

"You said it was my fault we lost!," Billy cryed, sitting up on the bed. 

The coach realised that he'd been found out, and tried to make a break for the door. Xander grabbed him by the jacket as the man passed him, and held his arms behind his back in a painful hold. 

"It wasn't my fault!," Billy continued. "There's eight other players on the team. You know that." 

"Nice going!," Buffy said to Billy. The little boy grinned at her. 

* * * 

Later, leaving school, the three teenagers discussed the happenings. 

"I just can't believe a kiddy league coach would do something like that," Buffy commented. 

"Well, you obviously haven't played kiddy league," Xander said. "I'm surprised it wasn't one of the parents." 

A dark look crossed his face, then left just as quickly. 

"I'm just glad he's behind bars where he belongs," Willow decided. 

"But that was kinda heroic, Xander, helping beat up the Ugly Man and holding the coach back and all," Buffy said, praising Xander. "Your training with Giles is paying off!" 

"Well, if you wanna call it heroic...," Xander trailed off modestly. 

Buffy's father, Hank, walked up to the trio, then hugged his daughter. 

"Hi, sweetheart! Oh, it's so good to see you!," the man said, releasing the hug. "How are you?" 

"Fine, you know. The usual," Buffy said as she left with him. 

"Personal question?," Willow asked Xander as Buffy left them. 

"Yeah, shoot!" 

"When Buffy was a vampire," Willow began, "you weren't still, like, attracted to her, were you?" 

"Willow, how can you...," Xander protested. "I mean, that's really bent! She was... grotesque!" 

"Still dug her, huh?," Willow asked, seeing through him in an instant. 

"I'm sick, I need help." 

"Don't I know it," Willow said, giving him a hug. "I could help." 

* * * 

Post-fic Comments: 

Couldn't write the fight at first try. I had to play King of Fighters a bit, first. Heidern is fun to play, just slow compared to some younger fighters. Clark is a nightmare, if you let him grab you. 


	8. Chapter 8 Obscurity

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: King of Fighters 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

Is it me, or do only old people call high end stereos 'hifi's? I'm guessing, re Willow's age. 

WTF is a May Queen, anyway? It sounds kinda druidic or Wiccan, or something. 

* * * 

Giles downed another shot of Black Label, then turned the page of the book he was reading. 

Normally busy researching the new threat to life and happiness on the Hellmouth, or studying unfamiliar material, the Watcher had developed a habit of a night of rest and relaxation after his charges had dispatched a major evil. Thus the open bottle of Johnny Walker, the illustrated copy of _The Silmarillion_, and the Def Leppard record playing on the hi-fi. 

So it came as quite a surprise when someone knocked on the door. Giles carefully got up, and turned down Def Leppard (who were currently imploring him to pour some sugar on them.) Using that peculiarly precise gait that partially drunk people tend to use, he walked over to the door and opened it. 

Great. 

Billy Kane was back. With some weird bloke that Giles'd never clapped eyes on before. 

"Billy," Giles greeted him, trying to maintain a certain level of civility. Ripper tended to come out more when he was drunk. 

"Ripper, mate, good ta see you again," Billy said. He was still dressed in his blue pants and jacket, with the red and white bandanna. "I''ve come with Yagami, here. He's convinced that your boy's a Kusanagi, won't listen to me." 

Billy's companion was tall, very tall. He had red hair and pants, with a belt linking his knees loosely. A long, untucked white dress shirt was barely covered by a black jacket, and the whole ensemble was finished with a black leather choker. Giles took a moment to visibly look him up and down. 

"So," Giles sneered, drink getting to him, "this is the last of the Yagami Clan, eh? Their last chance to settle their little argument." 

Yagami grabbed Giles' shirt, lifting him by it. "I'm here to see flameboy. If he is a Kusanagi, he's dead." 

Giles expertly hit a few points on Yagami's wrist and arm, numbing it. Once he was back on the ground, he turned back into his apartment, and turned off the recplayer. 

"I'll explain this in better surroundings, if you don't mind." 

* * * 

Iori, turning over his empty glass, looked pensive after Giles' account of his time in America. "So, he's definitely not of the Kusanagi?" 

The Watcher nodded. "I've traced his family line back to Merry Old England. The only possible source of the flames is an ancestor of his named... Raymond LaVelle." 

Iori visibly recognised the name, but Billy didn't. 

"Who's this LaVelle poof?," Kane asked. "Demon?" 

"No, witch," Giles explained tiredly. It was getting very late. "An account in a diary from that time states that the man was involved in binding and subsuming a minor lava hellgod of the region. I can only conjecture that the hellgod was subsumed into LaVelle's line, and energies from the Hellmouth have made them more active in Alexander than they would be otherwise." 

"Oh, that's damn lovely," the British staff-fighter groaned. "Is he going to go Rugal Bernstein on us, then?" 

"The millionaire gone megalomaniac after being infused with Orochi energies?," Giles asked. "No, from the account LaVelle was an accomplished magician and destroyed the minor Hellgod's mind using a massive ritual circle. However, energy can be neither created nor destroyed, so..." 

"Hmmm. I'll train this Alexander enough so he can restrain these energies, then I have to hunt again," Iori said. He grinned sheepishly before continueing. "Can I crash here?" 

* * * 

The next day, Xander wandered on to school completely oblivious of the new arrivals. He went to Willow's house first, getting a piece of toast and Willow. 

"So, how about that coach?," Willow asked. She mentally hit herself for such a lame line. 

"I can't stand people who beat up kids," Xander said, frowning. 

"It showed," Willow commented. "Believe me." 

Xander blushed. "Did I go overboard?" 

"Nah," the hacker said. "It's just that, well, demons are evil and don't do good, right? But people are good or evil, or they can be both, and they have a choice so they can pick whether they want to be good or evil, and that guy chose to be evil, so he deserved everything he got." 

Xander grinned. "It's good to know that I can count on you to remain good old Willow." 

"Hey!," the redhead protested as they entered the school doors. "I'm not old! I'm sixteen!" 

"I noticed," Xander joked. "Sixteen year old girls tend to have a certain curvaceousness." 

"Thank you," Willow smiled, convinced that Xander had intended that as a compliment. "Hey, there's Buffy!" 

Indeed, the Slayer was standing before them, glaring at the departing Cordelia Chase, queen of the cheerleaders. 

"So, what's Cordelia up to?," Xander asked. 

"Bribery," Buffy replied. "She's desperate to be May Queen." 

"Cordelia, man, does she love titles!," Xander grinned. 

Willow began to laugh, remembering a past occassion. "Oh, God! Remember in sixth grade with the field trip?" 

"Right! Right!," Xander continued. "The guy with the antlers on his belt?" 

Buffy looked at her two friends, half-convinced they were mad, or having a religious experience. 

"Be My Deputy!," Willow commanded. 

"And remember, the hat?" 

"Oh God! The hat!" 

"Gee," Buffy interrupted, "it's fun that we're speaking in tongues." 

"I'm sorry," Willow apologised, starting to calm down. 

"It's just that we had this, uh... you just had to be there," Xander also apologised. 

"It's not even funny," Willow said, backpedalling. 

"Really!," Xander confirmed. 

"Uh, Cordelia just has a past of trying too hard," Willow explained. 

"Yeah, what kinda moron would want to be May Queen anyway?," Xander, historically the outcast, asked. 

The Slayer turned to her locker, slowly opening it. "I was." 

"You what?" 

"At my old school," Buffy explained. 

"Oh!," Xander exclaimed. "Well, there's an exception to every rule!" 

Buffy looked at Xander. "You've been spending too much time with Giles, if that's the best you can come up with. We didn't call it May Queen, but we may as well have." 

"Well, you know, you don't need that anymore," Xander said, encouraging her. "You've got us!" 

Willow smiled as well, before cracking up laughing. "Be My Deputy! Oh, God!" 

One of the jock students came running down the hallway. Xander vaguely recalled his name as Bud, or Buddy. 

"Guys, c'mon! Mitch got whaled on! I think he's..." 

* * * 

Post-fic Comments: 

Doubt I can skip psycho-transparent-girl. 


	9. Chapter 9 Obscurity

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: King of Fighters 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

Okay, Hatten, I'll hold up my end :) 

* * * 

The threesome immediately went to find out what had happened to the student 'Mitch'. The Ugly Man had started with beating up random people -- they weren't about to let another one get started. Buffy grabbed the gurney that Mitch was lying on, bleeding, to question him. 

"Mitch, what happened?" 

"I don't know. I, I heard something. I tried to grab a, a bat...," the jock trailed off. He laughed slightly, as he continued. "That hit me." 

"Bat bat, or baseball bat?," Xander joked. 

"The baseball bat! By itself, the thing was floating, it knocked me out, wiseass." 

The paramedics, not terribly happy with people who randomly stopped them to question their patients out of a morbid curiousity, moved on. 

"I'd better check out the scene," Buffy said aloud. 

"Want a hand?," Xander asked. 

"Nah." 

The would-be detective was stopped in her tracks by the five foot nothing Principal. "Where do you think you're going?" 

"Um, Mitch wanted me to get his comb," Buffy improvised, realising just how pathetic the excuse was the minute she said it. "He, he likes his comb." 

"I don't think Mitch needs his comb right now," Snyder drawled nastily. "I think Mitch needs medical attention. And you need to stay away from the crime scene. Always sticking your nose in." 

"Sue? What did you say? Mitch was gonna sue the school?," Willow asked loudly, spinning lies for all she was worth. 

"Sue? Who?," Snyder asked, panicking as dollar signs in his wallet grew wings and flew away. 

The Slayer mouthed a thank you to Willow and Xander, moving quickly to the scene of the crime to case it out. 

"Well, his dad is the most powerful lawyer in Sunnydale," Xander glibly lied. Mitch's dad worked as a sanitation engineer. 

"Hold on," Snyder said. "What have you two heard?" 

"His dad, the lawyer. You haven't heard of him?" 

"Other lawyers call him 'The Beast'," Willow added. 

They managed to make Snyder very, very pale before he sent them off to class. 

* * * 

Later, at the cafeteria, Buffy reported that the word 'Look' had been painted onto one of the locker doors. 

"'Look'?," Willow asked. "That's all it said?" 

"Look at what?," Xander asked. "Look at Mitch?" 

"Maybe," the Slayer muttered. "All I know is it's a message." 

"And...," Xander trailed off. 

"Ah, here you are," Giles said. "Xander, Billy Kane and a friend are back if you are interested." 

"And monsters don't usually send messages," Buffy continued, ignoring Giles' segue. "It's pretty much crush, kill, destroy. This was different." 

"I'd have to say you're right," Giles said, mentally moving on to the mystery of Mitch. He'd caught the tail end of their conversation as he'd approached. 

"I love it when he says that!," Buffy smiled. "Any theories?" 

"Uh, I'm, uh, it's a bit of a puzzle, really," Giles said as he took a seat. "Um, I've never actually heard of anyone attacked by a lone baseball bat before." 

"Maybe it's a vampire bat," Xander punned, badly. "I'm alone with that one, huh?" 

"Well, assuming the bat itself is not possessed, uh, there are a few possibilities that bear investigating," Giles thought out loud. "Uh, someone with telekinesis, uh, the power to move objects at will, uh, uh, an invisible creature, um, or possibly a poltergeist." 

"Or someone hit Mitch /really/ hard," Xander interrupted. 

"Quite." 

"A ghost?," Willow asked, latching onto the most unsettling possibility. 

"Yes, and a very angry one," Giles said. 

"Yeah, I'd say," Buffy confirmed. "The locker room was a real scene." 

"If it's a ghost, then we're talking about a dead kid," Willow reasoned. 

"I guess so," Buffy shrugged. "You know, why don't you compile a list of dead or missing kids? It's probably a good place to start." 

"And, uh, I'll research all the possibilities, ghosts included," Giles said. "Uh, Xander, Kane and his friend Iori Yagami are waiting to see you in the Library." 

Somehow, Buffy managed to avoid doing any work. 

"Billy?," Xander grinned. "Coolness. I wonder if he got me one of those segmented staffs?" 

"He did bring something," Giles confirmed. 

"Cool!" 

* * * 

Post-fic Comments: 

This part was probably pretty weak. Sorry. 


	10. Chapter 10 Obscurity

Summary: Giles gets a clue at the start, and trains Xander and Willow somewhat. 

Crossover: King of Fighters 

Disclaimer: I own naught but debt. 

Feedback: Why not? 

Pre-fic Comments: 

Oh, hell yeah I rule. Grovel at my feet, worms, and tremble before your KING! 

(I'm not drunk. Honest. I'm not listening to any Tangerine Dream or Meshuggah either.) 

Xander moseyed on through to the Library, grinning widely as he walked through the double doors. 

"Billy! Nice to see you!," Xander yelled out. 

"Nice ta see you too, mate," Billy grinned back. "This's Iori Yagami, you probably know him already from telly, eh?" 

"Something like that," Xander shrugged. "Hi, I'm Xander Harris." 

The redheaded man looked him up and down carefully, hands in his pockets. "Ripper told me that you can make your own flame." 

Xander shrugged, lifting a hand as a tongue of flame appeared. It wound around his arm and up from his hand like a python, dancing in the air. "Something like that. This comes in /way/ useful for barbeques around Christmas time." 

"Ripper also tells us that you're having problems controlling it," Billy smirked. "Gonna tell your old mate Billy about it?" 

Xander blushed, remembering the most memorable incident where he had had a wet dream and had almost burnt the house down. 

Iori chuckled at this. "In your dreams, eh?" 

"Something like that," Xander laughed nervously. "Did it happen to you, or am I just the only loser-freak?" 

"It happens to everyone with the inner flame," Iori said calmly, before his eyes locked onto Xander's. An intense gaze stopped Xander from dropping eye contact. "And you are /not/ a freak. Or are you calling me a freak?" 

"Do I look suicidal?," Xander joked, dodging the question. 

"If you say anything else you probably are," Billy called out. "Look, part of the reason that we're here is so Iori here can train you up a bit in using this flame without setting your pants on fire." 

"I'm only staying here because I don't know where that filthy Kusanagi has hidden," Iori muttered. 

"Right," Billy nodded. He pulled out a peculiar looking metal glove, carefully handing it to Xander. "Got you something. Geese told me to give it to you, since he was kinda interested in the Hellmouth and all." 

"Thanks," Xander said, carefully pulling the glove on. "This is so cool!" 

The part covering his palm was mostly missing, while the wrist part had a leather strap just after the hinge to tighten once the glove had been put on. Long, thin blades stretched from the tips of the fingers and the thumb. It vaguely resembled Freddy Krueger's glove, in the way that a Scottish Claymore resembled (with great imagination) a staff with nails sticking out. 

"Wh-what /are/ you doing, Xander?," Giles asked, entering the library and seeing him play with a lethal looking device. 

"I was just giving him his present, Ripper," Billy said defensively. 

Giles sighed. "Xander, if you come within ten feet of my books wearing that, I'll have your guts for garters." 

Everyone's eyes immediately travelled to rest on the belt linking Iori's knees. 

"Hey!," Iori said, beginning to get annoyed. 

"Uh, how about we find an empty field somewhere," Billy said quickly. He did not want to be around if Iori blew up, which was likely if people kept needling him. 

"Okay," Xander shrugged. He flexed his right hand, watching the five knives move hypnotically. "This is /so/ cool." 

"Unless you wish to donate it to myself or Principal Snyder, I suggest you take it off while in school," Giles suggested. 

"Bugger," Xander muttered, undoing the wrist strap. 

"Billy! He is spending too much time around you if he's picking up English swear words...," Giles trailed off threateningly. 

"Hey, look at the time, better get going before Geese rings me!," Billy grinned, walking out the door. 

Iori paused halfway down the hall. "Something's wrong." 

"What?," Xander asked. "A kid got beaten up by a baseball bat floating in mid-air today... we think it might be a ghost." 

The redhead looked around thoughtfully. "No, whoever it is is still alive..." 

"Xander, are you sure you should be here?," Buffy asked, worried. 

Xander smiled at her, weaving slightly as he followed her through the graveyard. "I'm fine, Buff! And I want to try out my new toy." 

"New toy?," Buffy asked, instantly intrigued. 

Xander pulled the bladed glove from his backpack and put it on. "See? I have a much cooler Santa Claus than you." 

Buffy looked at it, open mouthed. "Why doesn't Santa leave me that kinda thing? Terminator-Krueger, much?" 

A vampire burst out of the earth of a freshly laid grave. Xander slapped it, hard. 

Now, when most people slap someone, their cheek hurts like heck for awhile, they might get a bit scratched, but they aren't hurt that bad, all told. 

Xander didn't take off the glove before he slapped it. 

He curled his finger slightly, so that the blades ripped into the vampire's head. The incredibly sharp knives slid through the decaying flesh and bone, leaving it's cranium in about six pieces. 

Needless to say, it dusted. 

The Slayer's mouth dropped open again as she stared at the bloody weapon. Abruptly, it snapped shut as she grabbed hold of Xander's arm. 

"Hey, leggo!," Xander protested, swinging his arm around to try and make Buffy let go. 

"NO!," the Slayer roared, clutching onto his arm like a bedsheet on a washing line in a high wind. "MINE!" 

"This is mine, goddammit, and I'm keeping it!," Xander yelled back. 

"MINE!" 

Post-fic Comments: 

Remember what Buffy said, the first time she met a crossbow? 

Similar principle. 


End file.
